Gov. Jon S. Corzine suffered a broken leg and broken ribs when his motorcade crashed Thursday en route to a meeting between radio personality Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Corzine was in critical but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, officials said. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Dr. Steven Ross, head of trauma for the hospital, said at a news conference that Corzine was in surgery for the break to his left leg around 10 p.m. EDT Thursday night. He was to be moved to the intensive care unit following the surgery, officials said.

The crash happened around 6 p.m. EDT on the Garden State Parkway.

A red pickup truck on the right shoulder of the highway swerved then came back onto the highway, said State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes. Another pickup in the right lane swerved into the passenger side of the sport utility vehicle in which Corzine was riding, he said.

Hey, Lee -- you forgot the liberal scolding point in this accident: "he wouldn't have gotten hurt so badly, if he had been following the law passed -- for his own good, by the way -- and wearing his seatbelt."

Corzine is lucky to be alive but, judging by that impressive list of injuries, I don't think he's out of the woods survival wise. This is a months-long recovery (at minimum) for a man twenty years younger than Corzine, and I hope the Lt. Governor is ready to take over.

It is bizarre... The consequences of a few careless words about a womens' basketball team continue to reverberate, and we probaby haven't heard the last of it. Imus will probably issue a new apology for his actions to the Governor in person, at the hospital.